Routine
by TakeHeart
Summary: [Oneshot] Tetsu has become a part of Susumu's life over the months, and he wonders if he should get used to it. [Susumu x Tetsu] Pre slash.


A/N: _SusumuxTetsu_ pairing, pre-slash, written for **Sharingank**.

Beta by the wonderful, wonderful **Emily**. Thanks! X)

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There is one thing that you have to get used to if you want to live a normal life with Tetsunosuke around, and that is to get used to Tetsu himself. Susumu hates admitting it, but Tetsu has become such a big part of his life in just a span of a few months, (He literary forced his way into it, that sneaky brat.) that sometimes he feels something missing when Tetsu isn't around, clinging to him, chanting _susumu, susumu, susumu_ in that annoying still-not-deep voice of his.

Susumu hates it even more so when he sometimes forgets just how much of a troublemaker Tetsu really is. He thinks that everybody, including himself, are fooled by the small hints of maturity that Tetsu shows on rare occasions. 

He believes that Tetsu will still be a brat when he reaches thirty.

It irritates him to no end whenever Tetsu comes to him and lies about having aches and pains, and demands Susumu to prescribe a remedy for him. All of that being just an excuse to see, and annoy the hell out of him. Tetsu seems to have an uncanny ability to always bother Susumu at his busiest times; and so he usually picks Tetsu up by his collar and throws him out of the room before going back to whatever patient he was seeing when Tetsu barged in and interrupted. (Tetsu would generally sulk outside and lean against a shoji screen until Susumu walked out and deliberately stepped all over him. Which would then result in Tetsu yelling and chasing after him.)

One evening, Susumu had retired into his sleeping quarters after a tiring day of treating patients. There had been an awful flu virus spreading around the headquarters, and a good portion of the samurai had come to him with some ailment or another. 

He was just about to take out his robes and change, when he realized two things. One; he had not seen Tetsu for the entire day. He hadn't even heard his voice. And two; one of the smaller kimonos that he had used when he was younger was missing. He sighed when he put two and two together.

Soft footsteps outside alerted him that someone was sneaking around, and samurai generally don't sneak. Susumu hid himself in the shadows immediately. The door slid open slowly and a figure slipped in before sliding the screen closed again with a thud. The person was wearing a kimono that looked exactly like the one that was missing, and the crown of red hair was unmistakable. When he reached the wardrobe Susumu darted forward noiselessly and pinned him to the wall.

Tetsu's yell of surprise was muffled by Susumu's hand over his mouth. He flailed his arms around helplessly until he grew tired and realized that Susumu's grip wasn't loosening. Susumu released him after he had calmed down, but he continued to grip his shoulders tightly in case he tried to escape.

"So instead of diligently doing your page duties, or polishing up your lousy tea-making skills you've decided to become a thief?" Susumu said in a low voice.

"My tea doesn't taste bad!" Tetsu retorted immediately, then gulped when he saw Susumu's glare. "W-Well..." he began hesitantly, "Since you aren't a spy anymore I thought I'd help out with the information gathering."

Susumu snorted and walked away to retrieve a wet towel; which he handed over to Tetsu.

"Wipe that stuff on your face away. It's hideous."

"Hey!" Tetsu complained, but took the towel grudgingly, "Saya helped me with the make-up, Y'know. I think I don't look half-bad, if I say so myself."

"No one would have believed you were a girl. You can't even act like one. Your precious Saya was probably just humoring you..." he trailed off when he saw Tetsu grimace as he reached behind himself to wipe the back of his neck.

"Says who? My acting skills are great... what?" Tetsu finished lamely when he saw Susumu's brows furrowing and his mouth turn downward into a frown.

"...Take off your clothes," he finally replied after contemplating for a while.

"Huh?" Tetsu asked; confused. Then, as if a brilliant idea just struck him, he smiled at Susumu _sweetly_ and fluttered his eyelashes, "_Oh, Susumu_, how sly of you!" he squealed in the highest tone he could.

The former Shinobi's eyebrow twitched. He desperately wanted to smack the boy in front of him senseless, but he decided that might only result in Tetsu losing more brain cells, and getting more moronic, so he held back. He reached out, loosened Tetsu's sash and tugged his kimono down to his waist.

"Ow! Hey, wha--" he wasn't able to finish his sentence because Susumu touched his back and he ended up howling in pain instead.

"What happened?" Susumu asked as he saw the big blotchy bruises on Tetsu's back.

Tetsu scratched his face lightly in embarrassment, "Well, you see, the shoes were a little hard to walk in, and I-uh... kinda fell down the stairs," his voiced lowered as he reached the end.

Susumu felt the beginnings of another insult start to form, but decided that those bruises looked bad and opted to be sympathetic (for once) instead.  
"Sit down," he ordered, then opened a drawer to fish out a bottle of ointment.

"Oh." Tetsu's face lit up when he saw Susumu unscrew the cap and pour some of the brown liquid into his palms. "How nice of you Susumu. _My hero_," he cooed, getting into his act again.

"Shut up, or I'll break your back," he snapped.

Tetsu snickered in response, then grew silent when Susumu massaged his back slowly. 

Susumu tried to do it as gently as he could. He imagined that Tetsu must be biting his lip to hold any cry of pain in, and he had definitely not helped earlier when he pinned Tetsu to the wall.

The skin under his palms was hot and smooth, and he couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to press it against his bare chest. Susumu shook his head to get away from that thought and back to the task at hand, and massaged Tetsu's shoulders to loosen the muscles. (Tetsu would tense up instantly whenever he touched one of the blue-black areas.) Then he coated his palms with more ointment and rubbed them against Tetsu's back carefully; applying just the right amount pressure for it to be effective, but not so hard that would cause him unnecessary pain.

Tetsu sighed in relief when Susumu finally finished and washed his hands in a small pail of water. His hands would probably smell like the ointment for a few days, but he could live with it.

"Thanks," Tetsu smiled, then his smile turned into a smirk, "Is there any way I can repay you, oh Susumu?" He said, fluttering his eyelashes at him again.

Susumu fixed him with a glare, "Return that kimono after you wash it." Sometimes he wondered if Tetsu was even aware of what he was saying or implying. He must have picked up the lines and phrases in the red-light district when he went to visit that girl. He couldn't imagine Tatsunosuke's expression if he ever found out that his little brother had flirted with him unknowingly several times.

"Are you sure you don't want to take it off now and 'do things'? Hey, actually, I overheard some men the other day and was wondering if you ca--"

Susumu promptly threw him out.

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C&C?


End file.
